Should Handheld multimeters have color LCD displays?

No matter how you try to 'colour the situation' up front, in reality something is still likely to be broken...

Still, I guess you could always colour coordinate...

Not sure what colour would add unless it could, for example, plot multiple different signals together, maybe a reference signal from memory and then a measured signal.  It will be interesting to see what you make of it.

I voted Yes! although I don't know why I'd need it yet. 
In other instruments, colour has often been a gimmick in the beginning. But then real good use was found for it.

I put my money on this:
"in a few years, we will not understand how we could ever live without colour DMMs,
and these DMMs will have a longer battery life than the ones we have now."

I voted yes, but it was in context to the additional information that was provided, namely that in this case it's perfectly acceptable because the product also doubles as an oscilloscope.  Should all manufacturers feel pressured to move to colour displays?  No.

You perhaps could use it to highlight if a reading was within allowable limits or not. Might be useful for someone doing a lot of repeated testing. 

Color is cool and can be useful, but I put a heavy weight on battery life.

For a meter that sees frequent use, I would give up some functionality to get a big improvement in battery life.

I would actually like to see low power displays on some phones.

I have an e-ink e-reader that lasts orders of magnitude longer on a charge than my color Kindle. Guess which one I use. 

I have an LCD DMM that is over 38 years old - It was my main meter for about 15 years, I have never replaced the AA batteries. It still works on the original alkaline batteries.

Also since I am often video recording meters, I do not want raster flicker or multiplexing flicker in my videos.

dougw said:

Also since I am often video recording meters, I do not want raster flicker or multiplexing flicker in my videos.

I think we'll see more meters with a PC connection (USB or BT). You can then capture measurements off the screen.

Louis Rossman uses this technique: software that overlays the measurements on top of the screen:

Or have the worlds first multimeter with a Hello Kitty screensaver!

Yes for an oscilloscope color is definitely essential. I suppose the world has made it this far with handheld mulitermeters being mostly monochromatic. I am really interested to see if the viewing angle of the display is like a smartphone, essential +- 90. 

Old habits die hard I suppose. I had once thought 9V batteries in meters was silly. After buying rechargeable 9V batteries, I changed my mind. In the event the battery gets low I just charge it with minigrabbers and a bench supply. Knowing that the unit has a rechargeable battery I will leave it running (sometimes backlight too!) without worrying about saving battery life. I know I will just charge it when the battery gets low.

I'm so used to powering/charging devices with USB I don't think it will phase me, but I won't know until I try it!